Kindergarten readiness

[mlc1982]

I'm sure I've seen something posted on here before, but could be another board I look at.

Anyway, does anybody know what is typical or what schools like for the kids to know before they enter kindergarten? Are there certain requirements?

I don't have any dck that go yet but am wondering how I can better prepare them here, since so far none of them have even been registered for pre-school either.

[Spixie33]

The KIndergarten readiness package we were given when my daughter was getting ready to go to JK indicated that

working on letter recognition
cutting with scissors in a straight and zig zag line
holding a pencil correctly
using a glue stick and having the motor skills to glue cut items to paper
and
writing their name
and counting and recognizing #s

They also recommended of course that you should teach them which way a book is held, which way words go across the page (left to right) and that pages are read left to right.

and they should be able to get their own shoes and do their own zippers on coats etc

[Barbara123]

Kindergarten readiness-Kindergartens do not have specific requirements but general guidelines that follow early development: 1. self-help--handles bathroom needs, can separate from parents, basic emotions and self-control; 2. understandable communication; 3. social skills--comfortable in peer groups, can share & take turns; 4. basic motor skills, 5. pre-academic--early counting, shapes, same-diff, some letters, etc. Can your child sing a simple song and listen to a short story?
Most people consider readiness as the pre-academics but the independent social and emotional skills are a key to being able to cope with kindergarten.
(My name is Barbara Allisen and I'm a kindergarten teacher, have a book about readiness, and a website (123kindergartendotc om). My site has a longer Developmental Checklist and daily learning idea blog for parents and caregivers.)
Kindergarten programs welcome kids where they are developmentally but readiness can make the whole experience so much more positive. Thank you for your concern--the early years are so important!

[Sandbox Sally]

This is meant with no disrespect toward the original poster whatsoever, but"

Wow. I never worried about "kindergarten readiness" with my children. To me, that just seems silly. Kindergarten is supposed to be used to prepare children for school, is it not?

Then again, I can imagine that there are some (not so good) parents out there that don't read to their children, or expose them to rudimentary concepts such as letters, shapes and colours.

So is this whole idea of "kindergarten readiness" the result of increasing amounts of parental apathy, or is it just another example of the escalating trend of overparenting?

[Spixie33]

This is meant with no disrespect toward the original poster whatsoever, but"

Wow. I never worried about "kindergarten readiness" with my children. To me, that just seems silly. Kindergarten is supposed to be used to prepare children for school, is it not?

Then again, I can imagine that there are some (not so good) parents out there that don't read to their children, or expose them to rudimentary concepts such as letters, shapes and colours.

So is this whole idea of "kindergarten readiness" the result of increasing amounts of parental apathy, or is it just another example of the escalating trend of overparenting?

I know - seems crazy - right?
As a parent I never thought there was anything I had to do to get my child ready for kindergarten....then I went to the registration and it was asking me 20 questions like
Does your child know how to correctly hold a pencil, can your child close their own zippers, snaps? How far can your child count? Can your child recognize the letter of the alphabet? Does your child know how to use scissors? can you child write one or two of their names?
I was floored.
Sure I did some learning with my kids like counting, ABCs, we read together etc but seeing that questionnaire I felt like a bad parent. I had concentrated on fun and quality time and just being a kid. I didn't know I should be letting them use scissors or teaching them to actually recognize a letter. I thought my child was doing great just being able to write their name, sing the ABCs and count to 10 and knew their colours. But the questionnaire was way more in depth than that.

Then...we went to the meeting for intro to kindergarten where they instructed parents all thing things we needed to do to prepare our child for Sept. teaching them there are words on the page, which way text goes, Being able to cut and paste, write two names, recognize the letters, recognize numbers, etc We were sent home with a bag of learning materials and suggested learning tools to start teaching letter sounds etc at home.

I was overwhelmed. When I started school or my younger siblings started school we went more or less to play, sing and have fun and reading did not start until grade 1 in any fashion but now parents /providers do have more pressure on them to be already 'pre-learning' with kids to get them ready for JK. Now you have JKs coming home with homework and it is totally different than what I remember as a kid

[sunnydays]

It's the same mentality that has lead many parents to enroll their kids in every activity possible before they are even walking. My 3 year old recently started a rec centre indoor soccer program and feels like he doesn't know how to play because many of the other 3-4 year olds have obviously been playing for awhile Most kids have no free time these days...it is all structured acitvities, which are great in moderation, but they need down-time too!

[mom-in-alberta]

Alphagetti; I think it's both! We have the two extremes of parenting these days. Those whose children are a burden, and get more tv time than face time with mom and dad. These parents definitely don't take the time to introduce the ideas of counting, colors, letters, etc.
And the hyper-parents who believe that the more your child is enrolled in, the better they (and hence the parents) are. Yikes.
I actually spoke with someone the other day about this. I have debated not sending my daughter to preschool, even though both my boys went. The preschool teacher I talked to said that all they really HOPE for (not even expect) is for the child to know their own name (not even write it), how to properly hold a writing instrument, counting up to 5 (not even 10!), and so on. And of course, being able to go to the bathroom independently, and dress themselves, put shoes on, etc.

[mlc1982]

This is meant with no disrespect toward the original poster whatsoever, but"

Wow. I never worried about "kindergarten readiness" with my children. To me, that just seems silly. Kindergarten is supposed to be used to prepare children for school, is it not?

Then again, I can imagine that there are some (not so good) parents out there that don't read to their children, or expose them to rudimentary concepts such as letters, shapes and colours.

So is this whole idea of "kindergarten readiness" the result of increasing amounts of parental apathy, or is it just another example of the escalating trend of overparenting?

As the original poster, I totally get what you're saying. It's just that now-a-days, as others have mentioned, things seem to be different.

I don't have kids old enough to go to preschool or kindergarten yet but I hear of kids going to these programs knowing their letters and numbers and how to write and spell. To me it seems like a bit much but also as a day home provider who looks after these young kids, I somewhat feel like it's my job to have them 'ready' for whatever comes their way. I have a girl here now who should be starting kindergarten next September and from what I've heard, she's nowhere near ready for that. She's 4 and can barely hold a pencil properly. I don't think parents are working with their kids as much as they could be these days and if they are, it's in the wrong ways.

[sunnydays]

I think the reason that parents are not working with their kids more on school readiness is because they are at work all day and come home, make dinner and put the kids to bed...leaving no time for much more than a bedtime story if they are lucky. That's why it ends up falling on the daycare providers since we have the kids for more hours in the week than the parents. However, I don't think learning these skills should ever come at the expense of the child having time to play and be a kid and learn socially. These are formative years and I would hate to see kids being pressured and stress being put on them at the age of two or three because they don't know their letters or how to hold a pencil. At the same time, you don't want to completely neglect these things and have the kid feel inadequate when they start school because all their peers know these things. It's a difficult balance to strike!

[momplus6]

The kindergarten my son went to had no such requirments he couldn't hold a pencil properly spell his name or recoganize all the letters he could say them though. I never worried about it to be honest isn't that what school is for? I guess it really depends on the school here you have to register in Jan so you should be able to ask then and have lots of time to prepare. My friend put her child in a really academically structed program and she had to know a bunch of stuff for kindergarten they also had homework everynight in kindergarten.